Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1887-02-18
BEAUTIFUL LAKE GENEVA.
Dr CHARLES A. DEWITT.

BY CHARLES A. DEWITT
/ stood alone on the banks of the little
lake, wherein had been woven the only ro-
nance my life had ever known. Tho
memories of another summer, seven years
before, drifted one by one before me. The
waters of the lake danced and sparkled in
the beams of the early morning sun, and as
its shifting chances shot athwart the un-
dulating surface of the lake, mocking faces
seemed 10 gaze up into mine. The ripping
wayelets Kissed the sandy beach, and were
then cast up in a shower of spray only to
full back once more into each succeeding
crystal breaker as it rolled )andward, or
hung in drops like diamond dew upon the
nearest shrub. The trees were teeming
with their beautiful green foliage, and
birds were caroling from many a waving
bough. The beauty of the morning, with
the surroundings, was we'll calculated to
charm the heart of any lover of nature, but
my thoughts were not of these. Seven
years before, L had stood upon that very
spot, secluded from general view, but not
alone. A fair young face looked into mine,
and q pair of rosy lips had answered a
ready yes, when 1 had told my love, and
asked their owner 10 be my wife.
Eloise Graham, that morning, was n
picture to bring words of rapture to an
artists lips. Her bright, golden hair hung
in a waving mass, her checks were tinged
with The rudy hue Of health and glowed
with pleasure and exhuberance of spirits,
and her blue eyes shone with a loving light
as she gave me the answer I fondly be-
iieved was to insure me a life of love and
happiness.
She was the only daughter of John Ora
ham, a man who had retired from the active
business life in which he had been en-
gagged, and in which he had accumulated a
handsome fortune. A scheming, selfish
man by nature, he loved wealth and all its
emoluments, and since his arrival at the
lake had spent his time in trying to in
gratiate himself into the Weather circles.
until his toadyism became generally known,
and he was by no means a f~avorite with
the people who gathered there during the
IuCdG0u UcIl4 AO1 1CS1CAVlOu ~ Enthusiastically
and had It not been for his daughter, WHIT
was q general favorite, he would scarcely
awe been tolerated. Eloise. as I have
said, was a general favorite with the re.
s%orters. young and old, and no picnic o.
boating excursion was a success unless she
were there.
I'D. for q number Of years, been a re
porter oh -he staff of one of the dailie
OF a large city IL Ohio, but had unex.
pectedly derived a sm.,, fortune on tn,
death Of a distant relative. This I invested
through the medium of a broker, in Stocks
reserving only a small portion for i'm
mediate expenses, and started for Wiscon
sin, intending to treat myself to a fe,
weeks Of unrestrained pleasure, and the
return to my usual occupation until such
time as my investments yielded a ~sufGcien
dividend to enable me to lay by the pen
But the summer had nearly gone and yet
fingered. caught in the meshwork of til
golden hair and blue eyes of Eloise Graham
whom I had first met upon one of til
excursions which arc the unvarying resourc
of those who find time hanging heavily o.
their hands.
From the very first she had seemed t
encourage my attentions, and when, O.
that eventual morning 1 had asked her t
be my wife, and she had answered "Yes,
my fondest hopes appeared about to b
realized.
After q short hour together we separated
she to 60 back to the hotel, and I to stroll
through the grounds bordering over tn
happiness in store for me, and wonderin,
what would be the result when I asked he
father for her hand I had just abou
screwed my courage up to the point of ap
proaching Mr.. Graham, whom l saw a
a distance, on the subject nearest M
heart, when q colored boy came runnin
up with o yellow envelope in his hand.
Telegram for you, sah."
I tore it opcn and read as follows:
CINCINNATI, Aug. q.
".lrthtr Bomom, Lake Gencun:
Another drop. Bottom out. All lost.
EMANUEL PETERS, Broker"
Stunned, for an instant, l ~scarcel
realized what this meant to me, but was re
called 10 my surroundings by the voice O
the messenger:
answer, sah?"
mo, Tom. no answer" and he left me
while l read and re-read the message whic,
told me chat q fuctuating market is not til
safest investment for money, and that
was again q penniless reporter. Ffoun,
myself wondering if it would have mad
any difference in the affection of Eloise
had she known l had met with reverses
but I put the thought from me as an I'm